Pedro Parente became the CEO of Brazil’s state-owned enterprise Petrobas in 2016, and quickly restructured the scandal-hit company into profitability by selling assets, reducing costs and advocating fuel prices to follow international rates. This resulted in higher cost of fuel, and leading truck drivers to protest against the high cost of diesel.

Petrobas (Petroleo Brasileiro S.A) is one of the world’s top 10 oil producer alongside leading oil producers such as Chevron, BP, Total and Gazprom, producing 2.76 million barrels of oil equivalent a day.